Triple Star Recycling Inc. had to pay for the shipment to Hong Kong, according to Tony Reyes, the firm’s general manager.
Rep. Ray N. Yumul, R-Saipan, said there could have been a “mishandling of evidence” that made the AGO decide in favor of the company, which was investigated last year regarding the copper wire found at its facilities.
Yumul earlier called for an investigation of the rampant copper wire theft incidents on island and introduced the bill that became Public Law 15-55, which mandates a 45-day waiting period before scrap metals are shipped off island.
Customs personnel said they were also disappointed to learn that their efforts in enforcing the law have been in vain.
Reyes, in an interview on Friday, said the seizure of their container vans cost them almost $12,000, or three times the amount they usually spend in importing recycled materials.
Reyes said they finally shipped the shipment a few weeks after Chief Prosecutor Kevin A. Lynch ordered the Division of Customs on Sept. 19 to return the container vans to the company.
The AGO earlier asked the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and the Historic Preservation Office to evaluate the contents of the container vans.
In a memorandum, Lynch told Customs that he had not received any information indicating that the copper wire recovered from the container vans was stolen.
Since the AGO was unable to file charges, Lynch said their office was declining prosecution in this matter.
Arrangements, he said, should be made to return any property being held as evidence.
The two container vans had already been shipped to Hong Kong last year when CNMI authorities seized and brought them back to the island.
Customs said the shipment documents were fraudulent and included copper wire and historical artifacts.
Customs also recovered 2,000 pounds of undeclared copper wire from a container van that Triple Star was about to ship out.
Rules and regulations
The rules and regulation for P.L. 15-55 that the Department of Commerce approved last month require a 45-day waiting period for a scrap metal shipment from the date of purchase to export date.
The rules state that “recyclers shall receive prior clearance from the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Customs if they wish to export scrap metals.”
The rules also mandate strict compliance in the video recording of scrap metal transactions at the recycling firms’ facilities.
Recyclers are required to report to and work with DPS if they have reasonable suspicion that products being sold to them are stolen.
Business as usual
Even before the new rules and regulations came out, Reyes said Triple Star had been submitting monthly reports about its copper sales to Commerce and Customs.
The report and transaction forms are issued by Commerce.
Triple Star’s facilities in As Perdido and Lowe Base have cameras to monitor transactions, Reyes said.
This year, so far, Triple Star has already bought thousands of pounds of copper wire.
Its records show that sales have been increasing since early this year.
From 4,823 pounds in May, copper wire sales reached 9,675 pounds in September.
Last month, Triple Star bought 7,892.5 pounds of copper wires.
